Chapter 143
Carly was the first to recover enough to continue, “What now?” she said as she stood and placed her hands on her back as she stretched out her muscles, sore from the battle. Her armor was covered in her own blood from when her eye was wounded along with dirt and grime from the fight.
Aiden grunted, “Please no more bosses, I've had enough for today I think. Besides, I'm completely empty on mana.” He was likewise covered in blood, but in his case it was the blood of others, not his own.
Jay chuckled, “I think we've killed just about everything in here except for the things we're meant to run from instead of fight.” His armor had a few scrapes along with a number of puncture marks along its surface.
M'redith smiled, “Well we need to open that chest and then pass out the loot. The chest is far too big to carry.” M'redith's armor was a mess of slices and gouges, her armor a living testament to the battles the group had fought.
Aiden rubbed his head, he felt a headache coming on, a well known side effect of running completely out of mana. It didn't happen to everyone, and it didn't happen every time, but it did happen. Aiden groaned and rubbed at his temples as he spoke quietly, “I thought the loot in this place was worthless. That chest looks like it contains something special.”
M'redith nodded in agreement without realizing she was doing so. “Well they told us there was nothing worthwhile in this dungeon but then again, look at what Carly won. That tiny ship was probably overlooked by every group that has come through here in the past.”
Aiden scoffed before closing his eyes against the light. His headache was throbbing now. “Does that treasure chest look as if anyone could have overlooked it in the past?”
Norri chuckled from the other side of Aiden, still lying on the ground with her eyes closed, her breathing just beginning to slow down from the excitement of the battle. “Maybe its empty?” Her armor was spotted with dried blood and grime from the fight.
Aiden groaned, “Don't say things like that!”
Norri laughed, “Now you know how I feel all the time when you say stupid things!”
Aiden laughed, it was all in good fun. Also, she had a point.
“Ok, so we open the chest and pass out the non-existent loot. Then what?” Aiden said a bit sourly. His headache wasn't helping his mood.
It was a frustrating situation. He was the only healer and he couldn't heal at that moment because he had run out of mana. That very lack of mana was what gave him the headache – which he couldn't heal because he was out of mana.
M'redith didn't take his attitude personally. Aiden could get moody but after spending so much time with him she knew how to deal with that.
“Maybe we should take a break first. Aiden,” she said in a command voice which got his attention, headache or no, “is it grilled cheese time?”
Aiden brightened visibly at the thought. “Let me check,” he said as he took out his foil wrapped pouch. The top folded open and released a column of thick steam in to the air. He removed a molten hot sandwich that was cut in half in triangles. Aiden worked at dividing them in to five equal servings, easier said than done.
Aiden got it done and began handing out sandwiches. Norri's went straight from her hand to her mouth without pause.
“Ooof! Mwamamlggh!” she said as she made huffing sounds. “Hot!” Norri murmured as steam drifted out of her mouth.
The others laughed and began to eat as well.
“American cheese. Classic.” Jay said as he took a nibble out of his portion.
Aiden chewed happily as his headache receded enough to no longer affect his mood. “Mmm. That was great.” he said, not even complaining about the portion size.
“So after the chest we'll still need to find a key to the trap door at the bottom of the basement, figure out the next step in our quest, turn on the loom power on the first floor, and then carry the bobbin back to the loom which should be able to be powered up once we return to it. We'll power on the loom, insert the bobbin, and see what happens. Did I miss anything? Jay asked the group.
The others sat and lay around exhausted as the thought through the list Jay had given them. It seemed like a lot.
Jay got up. “Ok, give me a moment to check the chest for traps. Who wants to open the chest?”
Carly raised her hand, “Me. This is the fanciest chest I've seen so far.”
Jay grinned, “Ok, come on over, just let me check it first.”
Carly got up and walked over to stand just a few feet behind and off to the side of Jay who was inspecting the chest.
The lid was kept shut by a knob that kept the latch shut. Jay inspected the chest itself first and found nothing, no needles or switches or trigger lines attached to the lid that he could see. The latch mechanism however looked a bit off to him.
“I think I've got something here,” Jay said as he inspected the latch further. Carly took a step back not wanting to get caught in any blast he might trigger.
The knob was oblong and when rotated would cause a bolt to slide in to a hole which in turn made it impossible to open the lid. The knob sat flush against its backplate and Jay could barely see an imperfection in the backplate. A tiny pin appeared to be raised just the tiniest fraction. Jay could barely feel it when he brushed it gently with his fingertips.
As the knob was rotated it would pass over the pin forcing it in to a depressed position. There was no way to open the chest without rotating the knob. The knob was firmly attached to the backplate with almost no clearance between the two. Jay could see no way to remove the knob. The backplate was an integral part of the chest and couldn't be removed. The pin was raised so slightly that Jay could barely detect it, let alone remove it.
Jay sat frustrated for a moment as pursed his lips in confusion. “This might take more than a moment. The chest is trapped with something I'm not familiar with. I'm going to have to puzzle it out on my own.”
Jay took a new approach and instead of looking for traps he began to search for a safe hole. Many traps had a tiny hole where a pin could be inserted in order to render the trap safe. Not all traps had them but the fancier ones tended to include them in their designs. The trap would be simple to avoid for the owner but would be almost impossible to disarm for others without knowing where the tiny safe hole was in order to insert a pin.
Jay took his time and went over every square inch of the chest which took quite some time. He found nothing.
Aiden had been watching him and approached carefully from behind him. He stopped before he got too close. “I have an idea, if you want it.”
Jay looked incredibly frustrated. There was no safe hole on the chest, he was sure of it, he had checked every inch of the chest's surface.
“Those diamonds look pretty valuable – the ones decorating the bands on the chest?” Aiden began.
Jay nodded, “They don't seem to come off though.”
Aiden nodded. “Did you check all of them?”
Jay went quiet. “Hrm.”
Jay began to methodically attempt to move each and every diamond set in to the chest's bands. None of them would move no matter how he attempted to pry at them.
Except for one. One diamond stuck fast before it slid to the side with a click. Revealed behind it was an incredibly tiny hole.
“Safe hole!” Jay let out with a cheer.
“YOU'RE a safehole!” Norri yelled back from where she was still resting on the floor. No one else had made a move, everyone was fairly exhausted.
Aiden already had a trap pin in hand and passed it over to Jay.
“Thanks!” he said, “I'm not sure I would have found that!” Jay insisted as he inserted the extremely thin pin in to the hole. He pushed it further in until he heard a click.
Jay removed the trap pin and gave it back to Aiden before reinspecting the latch. The knob was still in place but Jay could no longer find the tiny ridge of the trigger pin, which appeared as if it had been retracted.
Jay lifted the lid no more than a finger's width before stopping the lid there. He pushed a finger between the lid and base and ran it back and forth extremely carefully as he checked for trigger lines.
He immediately found one. He gently brushed it with his finger in attempt to determine if it was under tension or not. The line had a bit of give in it when his finger touched it.
“Trigger line. Not under tension,” Jay said out loud to no one in particular as he stopped. He examined the line and used his finger to trace where both ends went. One end went further in to the chest than Jay's finger could extend. That end probably led to a mechanical trigger.
Jay tried the other end and felt it tied off to a tiny eye bolt as an anchor. Jay fiddled with the line before he inserted a second finger. The line was tied off in a bow and if Jay could just tug on the tied off end the line's knot should unravel and disarm the trigger line.
Jay grasped the tied off end between both fingers and applied pressure. Gently he pulled and the knot began to unwind. Jay had to be careful not to apply too much force or he might end up not just undoing the knot but triggering the trap as well. He continued to pull slowly and carefully as he watched the knot finally pop undone.
Using one finger he carefully swiped the line to the side and then out the front of the chest between lid and base. He now knew the line was safe.
“Tricky chest,” Jay remarked as he reinspected the chest for the third time. Just because he had found two traps did not mean that there wasn't a third. He went over the entire chest without finding anything trap related. Finally he stepped back and waved Carly forward. “I've disarmed everything I could find.”
Carly looked nervous, as she should. Trap finding and disarming was as much art as science. Jay had done extremely well doing both so far but it only took one bad call to ruin things. She finally forced her feet to carry her forwards and lifted the lid to the open position. A thin metal arm attached to lid and base extended before locking in place which kept the lid open and prevented it from closing on the user.
There were multiple items inside the chest but Carly's eyes were immediately drawn to an onyx case that took up one entire side of the chest. A gold handle was attached to the lid. Carly attempted to remove the onyx box but was unable to do so. She turned to Aiden for help who also tried to tug it free but he had no luck as well.
“Hey Jay, can you help me with this?” Carly asked and Jay walked up to the chest and examined the onyx box.
“Hey guys, is this case glowing blue for you guys too?” Jay asked.
The others perked up at that. Anything that glowed blue tended to indicate a Traveler specific item and was usually fairly powerful whether it was an item or quest.
They each shook their head no. It only glowed blue for Jay. He reached out and smoothly lifted the onyx case out of the chest.
“Can I try?” Carly asked and Jay nodded and took a step back. Carly grasped the golden handle on the lid and tried to lift it. It didn't budge. She tugged harder before really putting a good deal of force in to it. The onyx case remained closed.
Carly sighed and shrugged as she motioned with one arm for Jay to take over.
Jay stepped up to the case and grasped the golden handle. It lifted smoothly off of the case and revealed an interior lined in a deep dark velvet. Nestled in a preformed slot in the velvet was a brilliant white gem that glittered brightly. The gem appeared to shine with an inner light and the group made oooo sounds as Jay inspected the item.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Traveler's Upgrade Stone
Jay grinned, “Oh wow. I've found almost none of these so far! Just one in fact. I wonder what ability it will give me!”
Carly tilted her head to the side, “You get abilities from upgrade stones?”
Jay shook his head, he hadn't shared the item's name with the others yet, he had been too excited.
“It's a Traveler's Upgrade Stone – like an Upgrade Stone only supercharged. It grants Travelers unique abilities. Like my ability to get and share quests. I need these even more than other people need upgrade stones. Very rare, very powerful.” Jay said as he pursed his lips.
“What's wrong?” M'redith asked. She had been watching Jay while everyone else had been watching the Traveler's Upgrade Stone.
“I don't know,” Jay said, “it seems like there are a ton of uses for upgrade stones – shouldn't Traveler's Upgrade Stones be capable of doing more than just one thing?”
Norri laughed and sat up, “You worry too much. Why not just use it?”
Jay nodded, “I could. What if I find a better use for it later though?”
“Just get another one,” Norri said with a shrug.
“Norri, this is only the second one I've found since I got here. I guess I just don't want to be too hasty.” Jay insisted.
Norri chuckled, “You're obviously going to use it, might as well get it over with.”
Jay smiled, “You might be right, but I think I'll hold of using it until we're in a safer more relaxed atmosphere. I don't want to rush anything.”
Norri shrugged, “Up to you.”
“Are we going to roll on it?” Carly asked.
M'redith shook her head, “Nope. Jay is the only one in our group that can use it – it goes to him. That's how we do loot. Need before greed.”
Carly nodded in agreement but really would have liked to more closely examine the glittery looking gem.
“Can I touch it?” Carly asked.
“No,” Jay said and she looked disappointed. “But you can certainly try,” he finished.
Carly looked confused but reached out a hand anyway in an attempt to touch the gem. Her fingers passed right through the gem, unable to affect it in any way.
She looked at Jay who shrugged, “Traveler's only it seems.”
Jay went to take the gem and place it in his backpack. As he touched it he was presented with a notification.
Do you wish to absorb Traveler's Upgrade Stone? Yes/No
Jay selected no and stowed the item away. As he did so the onyx box disappeared in to motes of light.
With a smile he turned to Carly, “Ok, what's next in there?”
Carly rummaged around and pulled out a pouch. She opened the drawstring and poured out five silver.
“Seriously?” Aiden muttered.
“What, you have a problem with a free silver?” M'redith said with a lopsided smile.
“No,” he admitted grumpily as Carly passed him a single silver coin, his share of the loot.
Carly pulled out a package wrapped in wax paper. She carefully unwrapped it and revealed to the group a stack of patches a few inches wide. They were circular and their edges were ringed in gold thread. The center of the patch held a white lighthouse with a shining beam of light. The lighthouse lamp was a single tiny diamond.
The patches must have been magic because the beam of light rotated and moved on the surface of the patch, animating the rotating beam.
The patch had a bottom rocker with the current date. The patch also had a top rocker with the words Lighthouse Keeper embroidered on it in gold lettering. The background of the patch was an inky black.
Carly passed out the patches and everyone seemed happy to get theirs.
“I thought you got titles when you beat a dungeon, Jay?” Carly half asked and half stated to Jay.
Jay shrugged from behind her. “I've no idea what the rules are for gaining titles. Maybe we still have to do something in here before we earn the title.”
Carly nodded at the reasonable explanation and dove her hands back in to the treasure chest. She removed a long rectangular wooden box. The wood had a light stain and had a bright appearance. The corners were covered with hammered gold corner caps. The long case was thin and with a snick sound Carly raised the lid to reveal five gems within.
Jay inspected the items.
Upgrade Stone x 5
The others seemed very happy at that. They were each handed a gem by Carly who happily stuffed hers in to her backpack. The upgrade stones could be used to gain a basic class, upgrade an item, upgrade a spell, increase a character statistic by 1, along with a number of things the group had never heard of.
“Every one of those will help us hit 50 stat points by level 10! That's the goal, right Jay?” Norri asked brightly as she accepted her stone and tucked it in to her pack.
Jay nodded, “You must increase your statistics each to 10 by level 10. It will give us a leg up over others who fail to do so. I know it seems like a lot but we've got upgrade stones and titles to help us reach that goal. Something for us to try and work towards at least.”
Carly tilted her head, “Me as well?”
Jay went quiet and looked over towards M'redith who looked at him at the same time. “You can do as you wish. I don't mean that in a negative way. We have our group and you'll find yours.”
“How will I know what to do when I hit level 10?” Carly asked as she realized she might be in the group but she was not a part of the group, not in the way the others were.
Jay shrugged, “As far as I know there isn't anything else for you to do at level 10. Just make sure each of your stats are also level 10 before you get there. I've no intention of sharing what I know with anyone else right now so what you do with that information is really up to you.”
Carly nodded, she had no intentions of telling anyone except maybe Chenowith. They were right, she wasn't a Glimmerhide. She would find her own adventuring group. Eventually. Or start her own. Her parent's finances made doing so fairly easy. Carly had become a bit jealous at not being a Glimmerhide herself though. Not that she would ever admit that to anyone. Jay's group, or M'redith's group really, made other groups seem so... boring.
“Anything else in the chest?” Norri asked sweetly.
Carly nodded, “Oh, well this makes sense,” she said as she lifted what looked like an old thick brass key out of the chest.
“Oh sweet! Now we can open the door in the basement!” Aiden exclaimed.
Norri shook her head, “You don't know that. It could go to something else.”
“Norri name ONE lock we have seen in this dungeon that isn't the basement trap door.” Aiden insisted.
“Just because we haven't seen it yet...” Norri said then sighed, “you're right – it probably goes to the trap door. I think I'm just overtired,” she said, the ending more to herself than anyone else.
Carly handed the key to Jay who took it and put it in a pouch on his vest.
“Why's Jay get the key?” Aiden asked.
M'redith laughed, “Because he does all of the checking for traps. Would you like to use the key before he checked?”
Aiden shook his head, “No,” he admitted after a moment.
“Then it makes the most sense for him to carry it.” M'redith said. “Anything else in there Carly?”
Carly rooted around in the chest for a bit. She shook her head, “Nothing! No treasure!”
Jay laughed kindly, “Of course not! We were warned that this dungeon was a bit light on treasure.”
Norri smiled at Carly's disappointment. “It's ok Carly. Just remember that you're the only one in the group that got a treasure item! That little ship is pretty amazing.”
Carly smiled at the thought of her little candy apple red Cutter. She was looking forward to showing it off to her friends. It had never even occurred to her that she could also sell it. The item already meant a great deal to her and she hadn't even had a chance to use it yet.
The chest began to disperse in to motes of light and the group watched as white motes drifted off in to air like a reverse snowfall. As the chest gradually dispersed the entry door to the room swung open and stayed open. They watched until the chest was gone, and Norri was first to speak.
“Now we go home?” she asked with a smile.
“Oh no,” M'redith insisted, “Now we go basement!”
After the chest disappeared a portal appeared in its place. The group could see through the portal and could tell that it led to the first floor cooking station.
Jay could make out the bobbin of sail yarn that they had left leaning up against one of the benches.
Aiden watched the portal with distrust. “That thing isn't going to disappear when I try to use it like the waterfall did, right?”
Jay grinned, “Only one way to find out!”
The group got back in to line and M'redith led them through the portal. The portal did not disappear, even after they had gone through.
“Oh hey, we can just bring the bobbin through the portal and back to the loom!” Carly said cheerfully. She had picked up the bobbin before anyone could say anything and walked through the portal.
Two things happened then. First, Carly passed through the portal and appeared on the other side empty handed. Second – the bobbin fell to the first floor just as it hit the portal. It landed on the floor just a few feet away from the cooking station. A moment later Carly passed through the portal once again and rejoined the group.
“What the...” she muttered.
Jay nodded. “I was afraid of that. We can go back up through the portal but we can't bring the bobbin. The bobbin has to be carried up the long way.”
The group groaned. Although they had killed all of the enemies they had found for the most part there had been the foggy room where they had been chased by giant insects. It would suck to have to do that again with a bobbin.
“Maybe the fog will be gone when we get to that room?” Carly said hopefully.
M'redith looked at Jay to see what he thought. Jay smiled.
“There's a chance that we'll have to go through the fog again, but there's also a good chance that we won't. This dungeon has felt dangerous but fair. I think we'll be fine no matter what. If you think about it all we had to do in the fog was run towards the light and stay on course when the light disappeared. We can do that again easily.” he insisted as he tried to motivate the group.
The others thought about it for a moment before deciding that Jay was right. It wouldn't be a big deal. The big deal would be crossing the balance beam over the pit of acid. That wouldn't be fun. Carly mentioned it only because no one else had.
“Do I have to go over the balance beam again?” she asked, her voice only shaking a tiny bit as she spoke.
Everyone spoke at once as they each contributed their thoughts on the matter.
“Listen, LISTEN!” Jay finally shouted over the commotion which quieted down quickly. “Here's what we'll do. Aiden will carry the bobbin and run it across the balance beam. Anyone who doesn't want to have to pass the balance beam again does not have to go with him. Instead they can just use the portal and head back to the loom room. We'll all meet up at the loom. Questions?”
“What if there's a fight and we're not all there?” M'redith asked. It was a fair question.
Jay nodded, “That would be a major problem but we have already killed everything in here save for the fog. The monsters won't reappear until at least 24 hours have passed. Isn't that how things usually work?”
M'redith nodded, “I guess you're right. No, you are right. We should be ok. I just hate splitting the party.”
“I hate it too, but sometimes it's the best choice. I think this might be a safe opportunity to split up.” Jay said.
“What, right now?” M'redith asked.
Jay shook his head, “Oh heck no. I want to see what is in that basement first!”
The others grinned. They wanted to see what was down there too.
“Ok then, everyone finish replenishing your health and mana until you're full. Once everyone is good to go we'll head down to B1.” M'redith said in a common sense manner and everyone sat to top off their mana and health levels to maximum.
Everyone grouped up around the cooking station and rested for a few moments before everyone got back up and formed themselves in to a line behind M'redith. She checked to make sure everyone was ready and then led them to the stairs.
“Here we go!” she said brightly even though she had begun to wish that she was in bed already. Dungeon runs took forever it felt like.
“Woohoo!” Norri said as the group descended the stairs.